Top Pentagon officials finally put a price tag on the war in Iran so far during a contentious congressional hearing on Wednesday. Analysts say the $25 billion figure they cited underestimates the total cost by a large amount.
The cost of some munitions, destroyed equipment and operating expenses total as much as $14 billion, according to Bloomberg calculations based on Pentagon data. That includes $8 billion for some munitions, $5 billion to replace destroyed aircraft and equipment and $1 billion in operating costs for two aircraft carriers and 16 destroyers across 39 days of near-constant strikes.
That sum doesn’t factor in the cost of repairing facilities damaged around the region, such as the US Navy’s Fifth Fleet headquarters in Bahrain, which was hit repeatedly by Iranian strikes. It also doesn’t include operational costs of all ships and aircraft in the buildup before Feb. 28 and in the current blockade.
“The Pentagon’s $25 billion figure is clearly a narrow accounting of what it cost to fight the war,” said Kelly Grieco, a senior fellow at the Stimson Center. “And that doesn’t even account for base damage, operating costs, the Pentagon’s own rising fuel bills.”
Senator Richard Blumenthal told Bloomberg Television earlier this month that even estimates he had been given of $2 billion a day were “a low-ball figure.” The Center for Strategic and International Studies had put the price of munitions alone at about $25 billion.
During the hearing, acting Pentagon Comptroller Jules Hurst said the figure included the cost of expended munitions and operational costs but declined to give a detailed breakdown.
That prompted a testy back-and-forth between Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Representative Maggie Goodlander, a New Hampshire Democrat who repeatedly asked for specifics.
“It’s an extraordinary dereliction that as you sit here you can’t account for billion of dollars that have been spent,” she said.
The US has lost dozens of aircraft during combat operations including MQ-9 Reaper drones, F-15E strike fighters, an E-3 airborne warning and control plane, KC-135 aerial tankers, one A-10 attack aircraft and two MC-130J multi-purpose cargo planes.
Replacing those would cost billions of dollars. The US also lost or suffered damage to radar systems that cost hundreds of millions of dollars each.
Aircraft carriers cost about $4.9 million per day to operate, and destroyers about $600,000. A carrier air wing — US Navy strike fighters have carried out thousands of missions against Iran — costs about $3.8 million per day. The 39 days of combat alone would run about $1 billion for just two carriers and their air wings, and 16 destroyers, according to analysis by Bloomberg Economics Defense Lead Becca Wasser.
Iran launched more than 1,850 ballistic missiles at targets around the region, implying about 4,000 missile interceptors would have been used in defense. Although the PAC-3 is the workhorse for ballistic missile defense in the region, most of the interceptors would have been fired from Gulf countries. Typical missile defense doctrine calls for at least two interceptors to be fired at each target.
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Published on April 30, 2026